Katarzyna Kędzierska, Joanna Tuleja, Agnieszka Dembowska and Bartłomiej Kiszczak. Maritime University of Szczecin

Transcription

1 Russian Journal of Logistics and Transport Management, Vol.3, No.1, 2016 Katarzyna Kędzierska, Joanna Tuleja, Agnieszka Dembowska and Bartłomiej Kiszczak Maritime University of Szczecin RESEARCH ON THE QUALITY OF TAXI SERVICES BY MEANS OF PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS Abstract The article gives an insight into research on taxi services provided by XYZ company. The first part of the paper is devoted to the aim of the analysis and the IPA method employed to obtain this goal. The subject and area of analysis, as well as respondents, have been described. Then, attention has been paid to the analysis of collected questionnaires, the results of which have been subjected to synthesis and depicted on service quality maps. Keywords: IPA method, research on service quality, service quality map, assessment of general customer satisfaction. 1. Introduction The aim of this paper is to assess the quality of taxi service provided by XYZ company, using a questionnaire and an analysis of results obtained by means of the IPA method. The importance-performance analysis (IPA) is the basic tool used to understand customer satisfaction better and indicate areas which need to be given priority, namely need to be instantly improved. Thanks to this method, it is possible to determine strengths and weaknesses of a product or a service, indicate which features need to be improved, require instant action or supervision despite being evaluated positively (Stoma, 2012). In order to separate factors describing the examined service, questionnaires, group or individual interviews, which have been carried out among customers and employees providing this service, are used. The key element of a reliable analysis of service quality is selecting the right features to the analysed business activity which provides the service. The negative effects in the form of incorrect conclusions can be caused by discarding the key characteristics from customer s perspective. One should also avoid asking customers irrelevant or irritating questions or those, which could doubt the sense of operation of a service company. The fundamental part of the research is the questionnaire, which should consist of two parts (Stoma, 2012): a rating scale (a client is asked about a subjective importance of a feature of a service), 16

2 a performance scale (a customer is asked to assess the level of service performance). A five-level item scale is usually used in the assessment, even though it can vary depending on researchers needs. It can also consist of a zero value which means a lack of measured value (invalidity of a particular feature) and in the case of service performance, it means that a customer was completely dissatisfied with it (Biesok and ӧyród-ӧróbel, 2015). So as to analyse trial results and to evaluate each feature of an option provided, one has to determine a general value of importance indicator and performance. Trial average, and in some cases median, is used for that purpose. The obtained results should be reflected on a scatter plot, leading to the construction of a service quality map. Proper construction of the map depends on the manner, in which the intersection of the importance axis with the performance axis is determined (Biesok and ӧyród-ӧróbel, 2015). 2. The IPA analysis aims/the method/the subject, and area of research To analyse the quality of taxi service, using the IPA method, a questionnaire has been prepared and applied in the study. It has been filled in by forty-five respondents. The employed research method is a direct questionnaire which is a written form of an interview. The research group consisted of persons of all ages and various professional qualifications/jobs. The subject of investigation was services of XYZ taxi company it is a firm, which has been operating on the market for 15 years and whose fleet consists of both private and company cars. The company offers taxi services to individual and business customers as well as moving and marketing services. The areas of research were taxi ranks, the railway station and coach station as well as bus stations located in Szczecin. The task of the respondents was to determine: the frequency of trips (more than once a day, once a day, once in two days, more than once a week, only on weekdays, only at the weekend, once a week, once a month, rarely than that) and characterize the trips between such places as: home, a doctor s office, a shop, school, place of work, entertainment, a cemetery. The next parameter which had to be evaluated was a subjective assessment of the quality of taxi services in which they respondents choose between the following answers: does not come up to expectations, rather does not come up to expectations, I do not have any opinion, rather comes up to expectations, I am satisfied. The next step was ranking features depending on its importance for each customer on a scale from 1 to 8, where 1 and 8 meant least important and most important respectively. This was followed by an evaluation of the level of performance of a particular feature of a service on a scale from 0 to 8, where 0 and 8 meant very poor and very good quality respectively. The features which 17

3 were evaluated include: timeliness, safety, reliability, compliance of service with an order, cleanliness, comfort, information and price. 3. Questionnaire analysis The research has been carried out with the help of the direct questionnaire method on customers who use services of XYZ taxi company. On the whole, 40 out of 45 questionnaires have been duly completed and collected, and they have been used for further analysis. The characteristics of the examined population based on sex and the professional group have been presented in Table 1, 2. Table 1 Division of respondents based on sex. Table 2 Division of respondents based on professional group. Sex Women 22 55% Men 18 45% Please assign yourself to one of the following groups a Teenagers/students (15-24) 13 32% b Working population (24+) 17 43% c Pensioners 10 25% Evaluation of a feature depending on its importance for customer (from 1 the least important to 8 the most important) Table 3 presents an overview of a number of votes given by respondents to particular features, depending on their importance. Table 3 An overview of the number of votes given by the respondents to particular features. Feature timeliness safety reliability compliance with order cleanliness comfort passenger information price

4 The preceding analysis demonstrates that for the customer, the most important element of taxi service was price and timeliness. However, customers attached the least importance to information and cleanliness of fleet, which is at the disposal of the company. Evaluation of the level of performance of a particular feature of the service (where 0 and 8 mean very poor and very good performance respectively). Table 4 presents an overview of the number of votes given by the respondents to the level of performance of (satisfaction with) a particular feature. Table 4 An overview of the number of votes given by the respondents to the level of performance of a particular feature of taxi service. Feature timeliness safety reliability compliance with order cleanliness comfort passenger information price The previous analysis demonstrates that the highest quality offered by XYZ company is compliance with an order, timeliness and safety guaranteed by drivers and fleet. The lowest level of quality, on the other hand, is related to passenger information and driving comfort. 4. The importance-performance analysis method A table containing results of the assessment of customer satisfaction with service and importance of highlighted variants of features has been created on the basis of conducted interviews. Table 5 presents an overview of votes given by respondents to a particular feature regarding its importance and extent to which it has been performed, as well as averaged means used in the following part of this paper to construct a service quality map. 19

5 Table 5. Assessment of feature variants an overview of the number of votes given by respondents to particular features in line with importance and service performance criteria as well as averaged means for the taxi company. Weight of importance (significance) of feature variant The most important feature Very important feature Important feature Feature of medium importance Unimportant feature Feature of minor importance Feature of little importance Feature of minimali mportance Feature of no importance Feature variant W i /I C i /P 6, Timeliness ,3 5, Safety ,3 5, Reliability ,275 4, Compliance with order ,425 2, Cleanliness ,075 3, Comfort ,525 2, Passenger information ,925 6, Price ,6 Very bad it could not be worse Terrible Insufficiently more disadvantages than advantages Below average minimally more disadvantages than advantages Sufficiently equal number of disadvantages and advantages Very well Satisfactorily high quality Very well very high quality Celująco the highest quality Assessment of feature variant (customer satisfaction) 20

6 Importance of variants highlighted in the questionnaire has been calculated from the following formula (Olbrych, 2015):, (1) where i variant of a feature taken into account in the questionnaire (i = 1,2,,8), k the number of assessments used in the questionnaire (k = 0,1,2,,8), w k value of assessment used in the questionnaire (k = 0,1,2,,8), n 0k the number of indications of a particular assessment Identification of areas which need improvement action or action consisting in minimalizing discrepancies between weight and evaluation is possible thanks to the partition of attributes into matrices Figure 1 (a,b). A nine-level item scale (0-8) has been used in the assessment, in which the middle value 4 is a neutral one. The analysis of results using the criteria which have been identified earlier and the employed scale allows to divide the obtained results into the following categories: Quadrant A features of high importance and highly assessed which should be kept at the same level, Quadrant B features of high importance and poorly assessed, the quality of which has to be improved, Quadrant C features of low importance and poorly assessed, the level of which has to be constantly improved and Quadrant D features of low importance and highly assessed, on which too much attention is focused. a) b) Quadrant B Quadrant A HIGH AND POORLY ASSESSED to be improved Quadrant C LOW AND POORLY ASSESSED to be perfected HIGH AND HIGHLY ASSESSED to be maintained Quadrant D LOW AND HIGHLY ASSESSED leave as is CONCENTRATE HERE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK POSSIBLE OVERKILL LOW PRIORITY PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE Fig.1. a) IPA Matrix fields; b) IPA Matrix fields based on Abalo et al. (2007). 21

7 The weight of particular attributes in respect of their importance for customers and the degree of their satisfaction have been put on the following service maps Figure 1 (a,b). Construction of a service quality map consists in projecting the importance of a particular attribute on the vertical axis and service performance expressed by customers on the horizontal axis Figure 2. The intersection of axes constitutes average values. Extending matrix by slant asymptote inclined at the angle of 45 enables to differentiate between areas with different priorities. Whereas each feature found above the asymptote has to be treated as a priority, features found below it have to be left at the same level. Consequently, it has been determined which attributes have to be improved, which can be left unchanged and which require more attention B A C D PERFORMANCE 1. Timelines 2. Safety 3. Reliability 4. Compliance with order 5. Cleanliness 6. Comfort 7. Passenger information 8. Price Vertical asymptote Horizontal asymptote Fig. 2. Matrix of the IPA analysis of taxi service in a traditional grid with a vertical and horizontal asymptote for a taxi company. Table 4 Results of the IPA analysis in a traditional grid for a taxi company. Feature variant I P Matrix criterion 1. Timeliness 6,45 6,3 Maintain 2. Safety 5,275 6,3 Maintain 3. Reliability 5,425 6,275 Maintain 4. Compliance with order 4,075 6,425 Maintain 5. Cleanliness 2,9 6,075 Leave as is 6. Comfort 3,05 5,525 Leave as is 7. Passenger information 2,575 4,925 Leave as is 8. Price 6,2 5,6 Maintain 22

8 As shown in the service quality map, in the first place attention should be paid to maintaining the level of quality related to timeliness, price and safety and reliability Table 4. These features are of highest importance for customers and receive their approval, which results from high assessment. Whereas compliance with an order is a characteristic close to neutral value, the remaining features received too much attention B C 1 C 2 A 1 A PERFORMANCE D 1. Timelines 2. Safety 3. Reliability 4. Compliance with order 5. Cleanliness 6. Comfort 7. Passenger information 8. Price Vertical asymptote Horizontal asymptote Slant asymptote Fig. 3. Matrix of the IPA analysis of taxi service in a four-quadrant grid with a vertical, horizontal and slant asymptote for a taxi company. Table 5 The results of the IPA analysis in a traditional and four-quadrant grid for a taxi company. Feature variant I P Matrix criterion Four-quadrant criterion 1. Timeliness 6,45 6,3 Maintain Improve 2. Safety 5,275 6,3 Maintain Maintain 3. Reliability 5,425 6,275 Maintain Maintain 4. Compliance with order 4,075 6,425 Maintain Maintain 5. Cleanliness 2,9 6,075 Leave as is Maintain 6. Comfort 3,05 5,525 Leave as is Maintain 7. Passenger information 2,575 4,925 Leave as is Maintain 8. Price 6,2 5,6 Maintain Improve In line with the four-quadrant criterion, greater attention has to be paid to timeliness and price of taxi services, the level of which would have to be improved. In line with this criterion, the remaining features have to be maintained at the same level (Table 5). 23

9 B C 1 C 2 A 1 A PERFORMANCE D 1. Timelines 2. Safety 3. Reliability 4. Compliance with order 5. Cleanliness 6. Comfort 7. Passenger information 8. Price Vertical asymptote Horizontal asymptote Slant asymptote Fig. 4. Matrix of the IPA analysis of taxi service in Abalo et al. (2007) traditional grid with vertical, horizontal, and slant asymptote for a taxi company. Table 6 The results of IPA analysis in a traditional, four-quadrant and Abalo et al. (2007) grid for a taxi company. Feature variant I P Matrix criterion Fourquadrantcriterion criterion Abaloet al. 1. Timeliness 6,45 6,3 Maintain Improve Improve 2. Safety 5,275 6,3 Maintain Maintain Maintain 3. Reliability 5,425 6,275 Maintain Maintain Maintain 4. Compliance with order 4,075 6,425 Maintain Maintain Maintain 5. Cleanliness 2,9 6,075 Leave as is Maintain Leave as is 6. Comfort 3,05 5,525 Leave as is Maintain Leave as is 7. Passenger information 2,575 4,925 Leave as is Maintain Leave as is 8. Price 6,2 5,6 Maintain Improve Improve In line with Abalo et al. (2007) criterion, the level of timeliness and price has to be improved, the level of safety, reliability and compliance with order have to be maintained, and cleanliness and comfort and passenger information have to be left as they are, since too much attention is paid to them (Figure 4, Table 6). 24

10 7 6,5 6 5,5 5 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 B C 1 C 2 A 1 A PERFORMANCE D 1. Timelines 2. Safety 3. Reliability 4. Compliance with order 5. Cleanliness 6. Comfort 7. Passenger information 8. Price Vertical asymptote Horizontal asymptote Slant asymptote Fig. 5. Matrix of the IPA analysis of taxi service in Abalo et al. (2007) grid with a relative centre and a vertical, horizontal and slant asymptote for a taxi company. Table 7 The results of the IPA analysis in a grid with a relative centre, four-quadrant and Abalo et al. (2007) for a taxi company. Feature variant I P Matrix criterion Four-quadrant criterion Abalo et al. (2007) criterion 1. Timeliness 6,45 6,3 Maintain Improve Improve 2. Safety 5,275 6,3 Maintain Improve Improve 3. Reliability 5,425 6,275 Maintain Improve Improve 4. Compliance with order 4,075 6,425 Leave as is Maintain Leave as is 5. Cleanliness 2,9 6,075 Leave as is Maintain Leave as is 6. Comfort 3,05 5,525 Perfect Maintain Perfect 7. Passenger information 2,575 4,925 Perfect Maintain Perfect 8. Price 6,2 5,6 Improve Improve Improve Given above is a partition of matrices in a relative centre, as a result of which the analysed factors are always qualified into different decision fields, which ensures greater ability to differentiate between factors Figure 5. After the discussed decisive criteria have been applied, three factors, namely price, comfort and passenger information differ significantly with respect to the need to be improved Table 7. Whereas the level of quality related to price has to be improved, comfort and passenger information need to be constantly perfected. 25

11 When it comes to other factors, all criteria suggest the same or similar recommendations. It can also be noted that as a result of the employed partition into matrices in the centre of the scale, namely in point (4,4), all examined factors have been qualified only to those two fields, which impoverishes this analysis in terms of decision-making terms as compared to the partition in centroid. Customer satisfaction index, CSI, has been determined on the basis of calculated average means and assessments of individual attributes. This index only measures the importance of a feature and the degree to which customers requirements and expectations have been met as well as the importance of aspects related to the operation of XYZ taxi company. Assuming that all feature variants would obtain the highest score, namely 8, then the maximum CSI would be 512. If, however, all feature variants obtained an average score of 4, then CIS would equal 128. General assessment of customer satisfaction is a linear combination of the evaluation of individual criteria in line with the following formula (Olbrych 2015):, (2) where CSI general assessment of customer satisfaction, I 1 -I 8 average value of assessment of weight (importance) of a feature, P 1 -P 8 average value of assessment of customer satisfaction with the performed service (Olbrych, 2015). General assessment of customer satisfaction calculated for Table 7:. 5. Summary and conclusion XYZ company has been operating on the market for 15 years. It has its fleet, which consists of passenger cars and moving vans. What is more, in order to fully meet its customers needs, the company sub-lets cars and drivers. The direct interview method carried out on 40 randomly selected respondents has been used to analyse the quality of taxi services provided by XYZ taxi company. The areas of research were taxi ranks, the railway station and coach station as well as bus stations, namely the places where customers using taxi services can be found. It follows from the traditional service quality map, consistent with Abalo et al. (2007) criterion, that the level of timeliness and price has to be improved, and the level of safety, reliability and compliance with order have to be maintained. Such features as cleanliness, comfort and passenger information, 26

12 on the other hand, have to be left as they are since too much attention is paid to them. As a result of the partition of matrices in the relative centre the analysed factors have been qualified into different decision-making fields, which have led to a greater ability to differentiate between factors. In line with the IPA analysis in a grid with a relative centre and the best criterion of Abalo et al. (2007), the best solution for XYZ company would be paying particular attention to timeliness, price, safety and reliability, the level of which has to be improved since they are features which exert the greatest influence on customer satisfaction. Compliance with order and cleanliness of fleet are at a sufficiently high level, but these are features of so little importance for a client that it is better to use time and resources spent on their improvement to perfect comfort and passenger information. General assessment of customer satisfaction is 216 and remains on the average level of expectations, which shows that the selection of features which may influence satisfaction has not been fully accurate. It can be caused by the fact that the importance of cleanliness, comfort and passenger information was placed at a rather low level. Nevertheless, the obtained result is a signal for the company that it has to operate better to improve the degree of customer satisfaction. Summing up, for a client, the most important attributes of taxi services offered by XYZ company is timeliness and price which have to be maintained at the present high level or improved. Safety, reliability and compliance with an order are at a sufficiently level which has to be kept and the issues related to cleanliness and comfort, as well as passenger information do not require so much attention. Acknowledgements This research outcome has been achieved under the research project No 9/S/IIT/2015 financed from a subsidy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education for statutory activities. References Abalo, J., Varela, J., & Manzano, V. (2007). Importance values for Importance - Performance Analysis: A formula for spreading out values derived from preference rankings. Journal of Business Research, 60(2), Biesok, G., ӧyród-ӧróbel, J. (2015). Approaches for IPA analyzes in clinical satisfaction. The Problems of Quality, 47(6), Olbrych, B. (2015). The study of perception technique IPA. The Problems of Quality, 6, Stoma, M. (2012). Models and Methods for Measuring the Quality of Services. Publisher Q & R Poland Sp. z o. o., Lublin, Poland. 27